YOUR THOUGHTS ON COLONIZED MIND

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Reply #270 posted 12/25/08 10:35am

peter430044

bellanoche said:

lezama said:

peter430044 said:

He calls the two party system an illusion of choice. That's part of JW-teaching by the way: don't vote. I think the two major parties in America are too similar but to call it an illusion of choice is a significant exaggeration. For instance, it matters a lot to millions of Americans wether there is universal health care or not. One party opposes that, the other supports it. The line about God and the blind leading the blind sounds like he views non-believers as morally inferior. I think there are good and bad people of all stripes be it christians, atheists, agnostics...

Seeing the two-party dictatorship as an illusion of choice isn't a JW teaching. According to the USA Today in 2007 58% of Americans said 3rd party(ies) were needed in this country. And as Ralph Nader says, there are differences in the two parties, but at the end of the day they both serve the same master: corporate america. Perhaps Obama might try to change that, but the chances of that succeeding are slim. You're right, part of the one party supports health care and part of the other supports this or that. At that level, of course one's choice matters, but when it comes to chosing the lesser of evils (as P explicitly mentions), as one would do if one votes for someone or something that one doesn't necessarily believe in but because one fears the alternative... in that circumstance, one's not dealing with real choice. Choice and compromise being two different things.

I agree with your post. I am not a JW and I feel the same way about the two-party system. It's like asking whether you want to be shot or stabbed - you pick the lesser of two dangers, as Prince states in the song. At the end of the day both parties sing and dance to the beat of the same coporate drummer. These are the same coporations who donate to both parties just as lobbyists pay both parties. The differences in the two are minimal when it comes to the overall state of things. However, as I have said throughout this thread, because Prince is a JW, people tend to dismiss everything he says as "JW" philosophy. I would not be surprised if Prince felt this way about the current system prior to becoming a JW. As I reflect on his music, he has always been politically aware but I do not recall him making any reference to voting or supporting any political party.
[Edited 12/22/08 20:59pm]

reply to lezama:
I'm well aware that lots of people want more than two major parties. Proportional representation and at least 4-5 parties would be better, like they have in much of Europe. The JW conclusion is don't vote, and of course there are many others who doesn't vote either, and I disagree. If the choice was between Hitler or Stalin then I would say don't vote, but the "evils" of the two party system are not big enough to not call it choice to a certain degree. The flaws are not sufficient to not vote. If one wants change one needs to vote for the less flawed choice to move the country in the right direction. If one doesn't the country will be even worse off than if one does.

reply to bellanoche:
I think the attitude "it's either like being shot or stabbed" is a kind of political apathy that doesn't help. One needs to see the nuances not only black or white. While the differences between the parties are not major I wouldn't call them minimal. It's not minimal for millions of Americans to get health care, it's not minor for thousands of lives to be spared from unnecessary wars, wars the Republicans are more inclined to wage. Climate change, another area where differences in policy matters a lot. Prince might very well have had this attitude before joining the JW but joining that organization certainly didn't help in that regard and in many other regards.
[Edited 12/25/08 10:37am]
[Edited 12/26/08 5:24am]
[Edited 12/26/08 9:12am]

absoLute224	i dont have any thoughts on this song i got bored 30 seconds in and turned it off what was he rambling on about this time? 2 + 2 = 4
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absoLute224	udo said: absoLute224 said: what was he rambling on about this time? The sad state of the USA. I.e.: the government, the people, etc. That includes you for not lending an ear to this man messaging about this BAD situation. sorry i'm too busy enjoying THE NEW WORLD 2 + 2 = 4
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